Anime Central 2026 AMV Masquerade Contest - ACEN THE MUSICAL

[SpuddStaaa]

ACEN TIME NEW FORMAT PLEASE READ!!!!!!!!!!!!

The largest anime convention in the Midwest is back for 2026! We are back at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center & the Hyatt Regency O’Hare at Rosemont, Illinois from May 15-17,2026.

WE ARE RUNNING AN EXCLUSIVE CONTEST FORMAT THIS YEAR

You must create something brand new and unpublished in order to submit to the main contest we are calling the AMV Masquerade. All editors who submit to the exclusive contest will also help judge the competition. Please review the rules here.

We are also running an exposition format called the AMV Hallmarks Contest where you may submit videos made from the past year. The winners will be decided by the AMV judging staff. Here we determine winners based on the merits we identify upon watching your video(s).

Step 1: Use the registration link when you are ready. You will not submit videos until step 2. You can register before you've completed your video.

Step 2: Use the AMV Masquerade video submission link when you have finished registering and are ready to submit.

Use the AMV Hallmarks video submission link if you have videos you'd like to submit as well.

Information on the AMV Masquerade is as follows:

• Update: The submission deadline for the AMV Masquerade is now March 30th, 2026 at 11:59 pm CST.

• Your video for the AMV Masquerade should be between 1 minute 15 seconds minimum and 6 minutes maximum. Any video that is longer than 6 minutes will not be accepted.

• You are permitted an extra submission if your video is under 1 minute and 15 seconds. Short videos are judged under a separate category that will be determined once all the videos are submitted.You may submit either a regular length video or a short length video. You don't necessarily need to submit a regular length video to submit a short length video.

• This is an exclusive contest meaning your video may not have premiered at con or online in a public setting. I will be looking to see if your video was made public or not. All videos that are found to be made public or premiered before voting is done will be given the option to be moved to the Hallmarks contest. You may now upload your video online after voting is done unless you submit to Level Up, in which case you must wait until their results are done. Your video must still physically premiere at Anime Central.

• We accept footage from anime, western animation, video games, live action, etc.

• Videos may contain swearing, but in moderation. If there is a question about your song choice, please feel free to ask.

• All videos submitted will be provided to the editors in a consolidated location which will be determined at a future date.

• The contest will consist of the 6 main categories Intensity, Drama, Sentimental, Fun/Upbeat, Comedy, and Freestyle. Extra categories will be created and decided by the AMV Judging team. A list of videos will be provided indicating the reason behind why an extra category was created.

• Editors will vote for finalists alongside the AMV judging staff. Finalists will be premiered during the convention at a designated timeslot.

• Winners will be selected by the editors who submitted to the AMV Masquerade.

• The live audience at the convention will assist in voting for an overall audience favorite during the designated timeslot.

• All videos are eligible for the Theme award which is ACEN The Musical.

Information on the AMV Hallmarks is as follows:

• The submission deadline for the AMV Hallmarks is March 15th, 2026 at 11:59 pm CST. The dates are different as you may have noticed. Please keep this in consideration.

• Your videos for the AMV Hallmark must not exceed a total length of 20 minutes.

• The freshness date for the Hallmarks Contest is April 10th, 2025. Any video submitted must be made after this date.

• A list of videos to be played in our contest showing will be provided before con to the editors. Winners will be selected by the AMV staff.

Awards:

• Audience Choice

• Best in Show

• Best in Category

• Best in Category (Shorts)

• Best Nonfinalist

• Best Theme (ACEN The Musical)

• Hallmark Awards

• Coordinator’s Choice

• Best in the Midwest (You must be local and attend the convention. This includes videos sent to the Hallmark Awards.)

• Last Year’s Best in Show Choice (Picked by last year’s Best in Show winner. If the Best in Show winner is unavailable, it will go to the 2nd Place and so forth.)

If there are any questions, feel free to email me at Reyd.Nguyen(at)ACen.org.


Step 1 (Registration):

Spoiler :

Step 2a (Masquerade Submission):

Spoiler :

Step 2b (Hallmark Submission):

Spoiler :

[speedy180]

Let's gooooooooo. Super excited for this.

[SpuddStaaa]

Update:

Recently AMV France announced their Level Up Contest where an editor can pair up with an experienced editor to help give advice and feedback with the goal of improving their abilities as an editor. Their deadline is however very close to our deadline for the Masquerade. In order to avoid conflicting with their event, I will make the following updates:

• You may submit your video to Masquerade and Level Up. Your pro will not be counted as a collab partner as they are intended to be hands off with the editing. You must however let me know in the coordinator comments if your video is from Level Up and who your pro is. Your pro can still submit individually if they'd like to.

• AMV Masquerade rules will still apply. You may not reveal your video before the contest deadline or during the judging period. This typically means if I see your video in a convention contest, your channel, or a server that is relatively public, it will be moved into AMV Hallmarks. Sharing with friends or in private servers will not count against you.

• The voting period for the AMV Masquerade will end on April 19th 11:59 CST. You may unblind your video at this point. The results for Level Up will follow afterwards as videos may now be unblinded. You may upload your video after their results. This is already part of their exclusivity rule.
  • Disclaimer: Your video must still premiere physically at Anime Central. Online premiere will not count against the premiere rule. If there is a convention you are unsure of, you may email me or message me directly.

• The deadline is now March 30th.

[speedy180]

Really like these changes. Super excited for the Masquerade

[Harmadillo]

Got a couple Hallmark entries in!

Working on one for masquerade - this sounds really awesome!

[JMI]

Nice, I'm wrapping up a new video right now, but I'll hold on making it public so I can enter it into the Masquerade Contest.